That gave Seth pause. “Fine. What’s up?”
“Still straight to business. I like that about you.” Nikolai ascended the stairs without breaking stride. Hell, without sounding even slightly winded. And he looked immaculate doing it.
The Russian didn’t say anything more until they emerged from the stairwell and strode to the end of the hall. Only after the bodyguards swept the small but ornate meeting room and Nikolai closed the door behind them did he begin. “Done more digging into past since you talked to Silas?”
Nik’s reminder that he and Seth shared the same brutal “language” was subtle, but irrefutable.
Seth clenched his jaw. “No. After that conversation I told you I was done. That hasn’t changed in the last eight years.”
Nikolai sent him a sharp nod. “And your woman. She knows of…chat with Silas?”
“She knows what she needs to know. Leave it—and her—alone.”
Nikolai nodded—a silent agreement not to come near Heavenly again. “Since you spoke to Silas, the organization he worked for has grown bigger. Stronger. Too powerful to be allowed.”
Seth’s jaw tightened. He’d always known that Silas had worked for someone else. The thug had had a rap sheet miles long without any connection to Seth, much less his wife and son. The hit had been too well-coordinated and complex for a lone wolf. But after four days of brutally interrogating Silas, the bastard had never broken and never said who had put him up to the murders or why. So Seth had been forced to choose—continue hunting the criminals who’d offed his wife, son, and father…or walk away and protect what remained of his family. The thought of losing his mother and four younger brothers had been too horrific to continue.
“How much bigger?” Seth asked grimly.
“Big enough to take over. Their leader is Specter. He is like ghost. When my men think we have him cornered, he disappears.”
The implications made Seth’s blood run cold. “You think Specter also hired Silas?”
Nikolai shrugged, but his expression darkened. “Gut tells me yes. The methods, the precision, way they vanish when cornered… It feels familiar. That happened to you, too, yes?”
“Yes.” But Seth hadn’t expected that in the eight years he’d spent building a new life, the criminal organization could be growing stronger. And he should have. “Fuck.”
“Could be different group, but how many ghosts in city are this good at hiding?”
“Tell me what you know.”
Nikolai narrowed his eyes. “Remember who you are speaking to, my friend.”
“Yeah, I know…I know. You don’t take orders, you give them.” Seth swallowed his frustration. “You came to me, Nik. If you want help, I need information.”
“Specter’s organization threatens distribution channels. They are drying up. Turf is shrinking, squeezing out organization. Italians and Chinese, too. They have high-level of protection and?—”
“You’ve never played well with others, but you’re cooperating with rival families?” If Nikolai was comparing notes with the other mob bosses in the city, Specter’s revenue and power must be huge.
“Desperate times…” Nikolai dropped his voice. “I tried cooperating with detective, provide information to take Specter down, but he was silenced.”
Seth froze. “Kowalski?”
The Russian scowled, but nodded. “Tell me what you know.”
He couldn’t give Tony’s name to the mobster, or his former partner might wind up dead, too. Nikolai would likely suspect, but Seth refused to confirm. “I heard he was gunned down in an alley recently. Supposedly a robbery gone wrong.”
Nikolai scoffed. “I was not born yesterday. Neither were you. It was easy to keep alliance alive—until I told detective that a cop was protecting Specter. He agreed to investigate. Then he called to say he had update. After that…I read obituary.”
Holy shit. “When did you last hear from him?”
“Morning he died.”
Fuck. His exchange with Tony earlier replayed in his head.
Things have changed, gotten more political. Corrupt. And getting worse every day.
We’ve always known there are a few dirty cops at the station who?—
